At some clubs, a particular shirt number confers special responsibilities on its owner. At Pittodrie, it’s the number seven shirt that stands out. Welcome Kenny McLean, the latest in a line of magnificent sevens.

Following in the footsteps of Graham Leggat, Charlie Cooke and Gordon Strachan is some ask, but in Kenny McLean, Aberdeen have found themselves a footballer who is likely to step straight into that line of succession. His signing is arguably one of the biggest the Dons have made since the turn of the century for there was a general acceptance that Kenny would be on his way to England. Instead, he arrived in Aberdeen to rejoin the club he played for as a youngster, something that’s helped him acclimatise to his new surroundings.

“I have adapted to life in Aberdeen pretty quickly. I knew quite of few of the boys from before which made it easier when I came up. I have also played against most of the guys over the years, so you get to know them on the pitch. It is an easy changing room to settle into. All the boys are great and moving up in general has gone well. I grew up in Glasgow in Cambuslang. I have stayed there all my life so moving away from home for the first time was a little bit hard, a bit different, but everyone at the club has made it very easy for me to settle in.”
Albeit that he has got here by a somewhat circuitous route, Kenny is yet another product of Aberdeen’s foothold in youth football in Glasgow.

“I joined the AFC Glasgow Academy when I was nine or ten. I was there for about four years before I moved on. I still keep in touch with my coach, Gary Gibson. I still remember a lot about my time with the Dons back then. They were good times, I have a lot of good memories. It was at that age when you just enjoy your football. We also had a very good team and a lot of the boys from back then still play here or elsewhere. Ryan Jack, Jamie Masson, Nicky Low, Mitch Megginson, Clark Robertson, Stephen O’Donnell, Fraser Fyvie, they were all in my team.

“It meant a lot of travelling, but you didn’t care as long as you were getting a game of football! You would go anywhere for a game. The bus journeys up to Aberdeen were actually decent. We had a good group of young boys and our parents travelled with us as well. The trip just added to the excitement of the day.”
From Aberdeen, Kenny cut back on his mileage when he moved onto Rangers, a mixed experience as it turned out.

“Rangers was ok but I just did not enjoy it as much. Obviously living in Glasgow it meant less travelling so it was handier but I moved there and then did not enjoy my football as much which at that age was not good at all. My parents noticed it, everyone round about me noticed it. I was there a year and a half before moving on. It was a mutual decision. It just did not feel right for me. I then joined St Mirren when I was 15 or 16.

“Pretty early on, I went out to Abroath on loan, just before Christmas in 2009. I think I was 17, still playing for the youth team at St Mirren. The manager at the time, Gus McPherson, wanted me to get some experience – and that was an experience! It was just so different from playing youth team football, going to play against really physical players who wanted to boot you! It was different. It definitely helped me though. I played something like 20 games there, we got relegated which was not good, but for me personally it was a good experience. It was never going to be easy but it was something I had to do at that age to bring me on a bit physically.

“In the lower leagues there are a lot of fit strong boys. Maybe the standard is a bit less technical but for boys going out on loan at a young age, it is good and can make you the player you want to become. The weather at Gayfield in winter was also an experience! I was about 4 foot 5, 3 stone, getting blown about! I did not have much chance. Corner flags were vertical, goal kicks went for corners. I think it is called character building!

“I went back to St Mirren for the following season and was on the bench for a few games prior to my debut, mainly due to injuries. Then my debut came in October. I can remember it quite clearly. It was at home to Hamilton, we were 2-0 down and Danny Lennon ,who was the manager, took a bit of a chance and put me on and we brought the game back to 2-2. I did pretty well and from then on Danny put a bit of trust in me which was great for me personally. From then on he played me quite a bit for the rest of that season and after that, I became quite a regular.

“I will always be grateful to Danny for what he did for me. I think every player will be the same, looking back on where they started, someone needs to give you that chance

Danny gave me that chance but he also stuck by me during the time he was there. He texted me when I got the move to Aberdeen which was nice. It was good to see him back involved with the Scotland U21s last week. I think he would be a good long term option for that team.

“When I was coming through I was fortunate enough to get my chance early. Everyone will say the same things to the young boys here now. Work hard and listen to your coaches and senior players, that is so important. Working hard is the main thing. There are boys in the first team changing room who have done a lot in the game and they would say that as well.

“The manager gives the youngsters from the U20s a chance to come and train with the first team on a regular basis. When they do that, I would say take your chance but also enjoy it.

“When you go full time as a young boy you feel like you have achieved something but it is only the start of a very long road. You have to keep working hard and hopefully, when your opportunity comes, you will take it”.
Just like the players he has joined at Pittodrie, Kenny is the proud owner of a League Cup winner’s medal from his time with the Buddies.

“I was on the bench when we won the League Cup in 2013 against Hearts which was a little disappointing but it was still a great moment. There are not many players who get to win a domestic cup, especially at that age – I was only 20 at the time. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future, but at the moment though that is the highlight of my career.

“I had a great time at St Mirren, five seasons there. Everyone around the club is great. It is a very good changing room they have got. Like here, it is an easy changing room to go into. They welcome players and with the new stadium and training ground, it was a great place to play. They have a lot of young players coming through. A lot of other clubs get credit for developing young players but St Mirren have brought through as many as anyone. Although the club are not enjoying the best of times at the moment, they still have a very good set up and will continue to give young players a chance.

“Coming to Pittodrie, things are obviously different here. Off the pitch, things are similar, a good changing room and a very well run club, but on the park things are different. For St Mirren, I would play in front of 3,000 or so fans. On my debut at Pittodrie there were 15,000. The expectation levels are obviously a lot higher. The position we are in, when I arrived we were joint top of the league, compared with St Mirren who are fighting at the bottom of the table. You are expected to win here every week and so we should with the squad we have got. So the expectation levels are the biggest difference. We have a very strong squad. The players themselves, we expect a lot from ourselves, we expect a lot from the man next to us. We should be doing well and winning games.

“I’m still settling in, but I hope I can make a good contribution. When you come to a new club, you are playing with different players and it does take time to adapt to other people’s game. They are all good players here. There was maybe a bit more responsibility on me at St Mirren because there were a lot of young boys playing and because of the position in the table. I was like a senior player there.

“Here, there is more experience round about me and hopefully I will be able to relax more and enjoy my football which should lead to stronger performances again. I am still adapting to how some boys play, but every day in training we are getting used to each other more and hopefully things will keep getting better.

“I have mostly played central or left midfield. I have played right across the midfield, sitting, attacking but I do prefer playing as an attacking midfielder. It does not really bother me but I think my game is arriving in the box and I am going to say getting goals, which I appreciate has not happened yet for Aberdeen. I got seven this season for St Mirren so hopefully when the first one arrives there will be more to follow!

“I can’t believe I am about to say this, but if I was being totally honest, my best ever goal was here! It was in the quarter-final of the League Cup. The goal was an equaliser and it took the game to extra time and penalties. My goal brought us back into the tie. It was a decent strike and the nature of the goal was very important. We went on and won the game on penalties and then went on and won the cup, so looking back I feel I played my part in the success. So unfortunately that was it, my best goal so far, but I’m sure that will change in the future”.
Like many other players who have made the switch to Pittodrie in the last couple of years, Kenny explains that the influence of Derek McInnes was crucial in making his decision.

“He knows what he wants. He knows what he wants from his players. He knows where he wants this club to be. Again, his expectation levels are very high. He wants to win every game. That just sums up where this club wants to go. The job he has done here has been brilliant. Whatever happens over the remaining weeks of the season, it has been a good campaign.

“He is very positive and I think you see that on the pitch, the way we play. We just want to attack, go forward and score goals. Obviously we want to keep goals out but the way we play is very positive and that is down to the manager.

“His man management is also very good. He is always on the player’s side. He will always back the players up. The players in return know they have to step up and perform. His demands are high and that is the way it should be”.